Chapter 7: Twenty Questions

“Motherf*cker!” Ezra swore, the bottle of water slipping from his hand as he clutched the towel tightly to his waist.

"Where's Valen?" I asked as I glanced around at the otherwise empty kitchen, as I struggled to my feet.

"Where—what? What are you doing here, Sprite?"

I frowned at him. That's the second time he's called me that. "My name is Zira," I told him. I couldn’t remember if I had introduced myself to him before.

"So you've said, but that doesn't answer my question of why you're here."

"I'm looking for Valen. He was here. I can still sense him. But now he's not…?"

I began to suspect the man was avoiding me. He'd told Liz not to wake me this morning, and now he had disappeared when I tried tracking him down. He didn’t seem to be in a rush to get the answers to his questions at all.

Ezra looked at me with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. "How exactly are you able to sense him? More importantly, how did you just…appear in the middle of my kitchen?"

"That's a long story. How long ago did Valen leave?" I asked, waltzing from the kitchen to the hallway closest to me.

The house had a warm cozy feel to it, with dark brown wooden floors and paneling. The pathway led me to an open living room.

"About ten minutes ago," Ezra answered, following closely behind me. "And I have time…for the long story that is."

Ten minutes was too long for me to catch up on foot without knowing where he was headed. And from the woozy feeling in my head, I already knew using my powers again this soon wasn't an option.

"I don't have time," I countered. "Where did Valen go?"

"Is your mind only filled with thoughts of Linus?" he asked, exasperation clear in his voice.

"Yes."

Ezra sighed in disappointment. "I can't tell you where he's gone. Not because I don't know, but because I don't want to," he told me smugly. "I can tell you he'll be back in an hour… Well, maybe less if you consider he's been gone a while. Why don't you make yourself comfortable…more comfortable and wait for him here?"

I considered his suggestion. It would probably make more sense to wait for him to show up than to go chasing him half-cocked. Especially if he was avoiding me.

"Is forty-five minutes enough time to delve into your long story?"

“Why are you so interested in my story?” I huffed in frustration. What I really wanted to ask was why he seemed entirely more interested in my story than my mate.

“Unlike Linus?” Ezra asked.

Crap! Had I said that out loud?

“That’s what you were thinking, wasn’t it?” Ezra asked teasingly, a smug grin curving his lips. “You gotta work on your poker face, Sprite. You can’t hide a thing that goes on in that head of yours.”

For the second time since I met him, I imagined hitting Ezra in the face. This time with my fist.

“Why do keep calling me Sprite?”

I knew very little about the creatures except they were from the Fae species and have been extinct for decades now.

“It suits you. You’re cute, feisty, and pocket-sized.”

He took me by the shoulder before I could respond and began steering me toward one of the cushioned seats. “Why don’t we play a game to pass the time? You mentioned something about liking games last night right?” he suggested as he stood me in front of the seat.

I considered him for a second. His blue gaze seemed affable enough, but I wasn’t sure if I liked the fact that he seemed constantly amused by me…or that he’d called me pocket-sized. It seemed Ezra had decided not to take me too seriously. And I wondered in annoyance if Valen felt the same way.

“What kind of game?” I asked, unable to stem my interest, despite my vexation.

He seemed entirely too pleased with himself as he forced me to sit. “Have you heard of Twenty Questions? It’s a human game. Very creative creatures, aren’t they? We each take turns asking each other twenty questions.”

My brows wrinkled at his explanation. I didn’t know that game, but it sounded pointless.

“Fine, so I tweaked the rules a little. ‘Cause yes or no questions are boring and if I’m gonna ask you questions, then it's only fair that you get to ask me too, right?”

Since I’ve already decided to wait for Valen to show up, I accept his proposal. “Fine,” I agreed reluctantly.

“Try to contain your excitement,” he drolled. “You stay there. I’m gonna get dressed and be right back.”

“Are you shy?” I countered.

His hands came to cover the exposed muscles of his chest in a jolt and he stared at me with wide-eyed shock. As if I’d groped at him or something equally offensive.

“Of course I am,” he responded. “I’m a very modest man, Sprite. Plus, I wouldn’t want you to get distracted during our game.”

I rolled my eyes at his display, and he disappeared before I could tell him how ridiculous he was.

Ezra reappeared less than three minutes later. A feat I wondered how he’d accomplished when I saw him fully dressed in a pair of jeans and a blue sweater, similar to the color of his eyes.

“Ready?” he asked, taking a seat beside me.

“Ready,” I answered, angling my body to face him.

"Ladies first."

"Where did you and Valen go last night?"

The question had plagued me since last night, but I hadn't gotten a chance to ask and I wasn't sure Valen would have answered me anyhow.

"Pass," Ezra answered.

"What do you mean ‘pass’?" It was apparent that Ezra had the special ability to irritate me in less than a second.

"It means I give up my right to answer that question. And to save you the trouble, I won't answer any question about the pack that isn't common knowledge, so consider carefully what you're gonna ask me."

"Are you just going to make up rules as you go? You didn't say there were questions we couldn't ask."

"You can ask any question you like. But I can choose not to answer. The same goes for you. We can start again since we're aware of all the rules."

I thought for a while. I was disappointed that I couldn't get answers to questions about the pack. Somehow, I knew my mate wouldn't be any more forthcoming with information than Ezra.

“You said earlier that I was cute…”

Ezra snickered. “Hmm. You say the most ridiculously funny things and then I have this insane urge to pinch your cheeks.”

My hand automatically went to cover my cheeks. “Do it if you want to lose your hands,” I warned.

Ezra smiled widely, completely unperturbed by my threat of violence. “See? Definitely cute.”

“My first question,” I started pointedly. “What type of girls does Valen like?”

“You sure have a one-tracked mind, don't you, Sprite?”

“Are you going to answer or should I just leave?”

“Easy. Easy. Linus has a very particular taste,” Ezra stated, as he eyed me in an obviously speculative manner. “I’m sorry to say this, Sprite, but…you don’t tick any of the boxes. If you really are his mate…the Goddess really has a sense of humor.”

You can’t hurt him.

You can’t hurt him.

No matter how much you want to rip out his vocal cords and ground them under your heel, you absolutely mustn’t hurt him.

Ezra was inspiring a surprisingly violent side of me I hadn’t been aware of.

He continued speaking as if he wasn’t ten seconds away from dying.

“That’s the first box. A sense of humor. Linus doesn’t appreciate that at all. As the designated comic relief, I can tell you right now, any sign of humor, intentional or not, will be met with stoic silence or banishment. Woe is you. He likes his women boring. And tall. With bountiful…” His eyes traveled to my chest and sighed hopelessly, “You should really cut your losses, Sprite. You don’t have a prayer.”

“You’re really trying to die, aren’t you?”

“Are you mad? I was being honest. Don’t be so disappointed. Even if you were his ideal type, you still wouldn’t have a chance in all the realms. You mentioned the one thing that was guaranteed to put you in the ‘do not touch’ corner. If it were someone else, maybe the whole forbidden fruit thing could work in your favor but—”

“Please,” I gritted out with as much patience as I could, “speak plainly so I can understand what you’re saying.”

“Are…are you a bit…slow? Linus likes smart women. What are we going to do with you Sprite?”

“What’s your question?” I asked tiredly.

To say I regretted accepting his offer to play this game would be an understatement. “Huh?”

“I’ve gotten the answer to my first question. Now it’s your turn. What’s your question?”

“Are you in love with Linus?” he asked.

“What?”

“I mean you wouldn’t be the first to claim to be his mate. Though you plucked up the courage to say it to his face, which deserves commendation to be sure.”

“What do mean I’m not the first? Has someone else claimed to be his mate?” I asked in disbelief.

“Many someones, in fact. Never out in the open, of course. A whispered word here and there and rumors start to fly. Women seem to like the thought of taming the big bad Alpha. I don’t understand your fascination. Sure he’s nice to look at, but pretty faces are a dime a dozen in the world of shifters. And it might seem sexy at first, but I assure you the brooding mysterious thing he’s got going on wears thin real fast.”

I decided looking aimlessly for Valen would be better than waiting here after all.

“He’s pretty inventive on the battlefield, I’ll give him that, but you know that doesn’t necessarily translate to the bedroom, right? He—”

“That’s it,” I muttered, and it was the only warning he got before I lunged for him.

It was apparently the only one he needed because he dodged and in one swift move, he was on the other side of the chair.

“Stand still,” I warned. “I’m only going to get more annoyed if you run. Don’t make it worse for yourself.”

He held out his palms placatingly. “Wait a minute. k I was only

“Wait a minute, Sprite. Let’s take a deep breath. I was just joking.”

“Don’t I need to laugh if I’m hearing jokes? Did I laugh? Just stay still while I’m asking nicely.”

I dashed to the left and made a grab for him, grabbing just the hem of his sweater before it slipped from my grip as he eluded me once more. We ended up on opposite sides of the chair.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Ezra said, yet his unrepentant grin told another story altogether.

“Let me hit you once,” I told him. “If you stay still instead of running, I won’t hurt you much. Just enough to relieve my frustration. Just once and I’ll let it go. It'll be as if we never started this game to begin with, and I’ll stop imagining spilling your blood.”

He winced at my last statement and seemed to consider my offer.

“Okay. Just once. Wh—where do you plan on doing it? I’ll accept anywhere except…” Ezra trailed off, looking worried for the first time since I’d threatened him, and his hands hovered protectively in front of the zipper of his jeans.

What an infant.

“...here. Anywhere except here. Linus might not get a lot of use out of his, but this is my best asset.”

I reconsidered my offer to hit him only once.

“Okay. Your face. I’ll hit you once in the face.”

“But my face is my next best asset.”

At the look I sent him he nodded quickly. “My face then.”

“Stay still,” I instructed, and took a step toward him.

“I will,” he answered while taking a step back.

“Why are you still moving?!”

“It’s instinct! Have you ever seen prey staying still, waiting to get eaten? Let’s try again.”

This time when I advanced he stood still, looking for all the world like he was waiting to die, even though I couldn't sense an ounce of genuine fear coming from him.

Four wide steps took me directly to him, but I hadn’t even positioned myself to land the blow before his hand shot out and grabbed my wrists.

“Ezra.” I let every ounce of frustration I felt bleed into that one word.

“Sorry. I panicked. I’ve never been hit before. I spent my entire childhood learning to fight to prevent that very thing. I bruise easily. I’m real delicate, Sprite.”

It wasn’t so much what he said, but how he looked the equivalent of a scared boy, which was the very opposite of what he was.

His expression caused the first bubble of laughter to emerge almost silently but caused my shoulders to shake gently with the force of it.

“Are you laughing?” Ezra asked as if he was unsure, which for some reason made me laugh more.

“Let go,” I told him amidst barely suppressed chuckles. “I’m not mad anymore. And I won’t hit you. So let go.”

“My mom used to say stuff like that, too. And she’d only laugh while scolding me when she was really mad. She was a scary woman.”

Somehow it wasn’t hard to picture. I imagined, if he was like this as an adult, it would have taken the patience of a saint to handle him as a child.

“Will you at least count to let me know when it's coming?” he asked.

“Aren’t you going to let go? I said I wouldn’t hit you anymore, so let–”

Ezra swiftly dropped my hand, before I’d even finished.

At the same time the front door, visible from where we stood, swung open.